Effect of Trace Sc and Zr on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of A1 Alloy 2618

An experimental 2618(Al-Cu-Mg-Fe-Ni) alloy added with trace Sc and Zr was prepared by ingot metallurgy (IM) method. The aging behavior of the alloy was studied by Vickers hardness measurement at 200℃ and 300℃. and the tensile properties of alloy specimens were measured at 20℃, 200℃, 250℃ and 300℃. The microstructure was observed by using optical microscope, SEM and TEM. It was found that the addition of Sc and Zr to 2618 alloy resulted in a primary Al_3(Sc,Zr) phase which could refine the grain because it acts as nuclei of heterogeneous crystallization in the melt during solidification. The secondary Al_3(Sc,Zr) particles were full coherent with matrix and had obvious precipitation hardening effect. They also made the S' phase precipitate more homogeneous. So the strength of alloy increases at both ambient and elevated temperatures without a decrease of ductility. The ductile fracture of alloy occurs by microvoid nucleation, growth and coalescence, so the microvoid coalescence is the dominant fracture mechanism.

Effect of ageing temperature on precipitation of A1-Cu-Li-Mn-Zr alloy

The precipitation behaviors of an A1-Cu-Li-Mn-Zr alloy at different ageing temperatures （120, 160 and 200 ~C） were investigated using Vickers hardness measurements and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） characterization. Age hardening curves show an increase in precipitation kinetics with increasing ageing temperature. The results of TEM show that for the samples peak aged at 120 ~C, the amount of g＇ （A13Li）, GP zones/0＇ （A12Cu） and Z （A15Cu6Li2） phases is obviously higher than that of T1 （A12CuLi） precipitates; while the samples peak aged at 160 and 200 ~C are usually dominated by T1 phase with a minor fraction of GP zones/0＇ and g＇, and the Z phase almost does not form. In addition, quantitative analysis on the T1 platelets demonstrates that the samples peak aged at 200 ~C have larger plate diameter and smaller area fraction of T1, as compared to the samples peak aged at 160 ~C. Correspondingly, the possible reasons for such phenomena are discussed.

Multiplex modification with rare earth elements and P for hypereutectic A1-Si alloys

The effect of rare earth （RE） elements on the morphologies and sizes of Si phases in the hypereutectic A1-Si alloys modified with P was investigated. The results show that the addition of La element to the hypereutectic A1-Si alloys can enhance the effect of P element on the modification of the primary Si phases. In the multiplex modification of RE-P, the primary Si phase is refiner and the shape of the eutectic Si is changed from long needle-like to short rod-like. Moreover, the agglomeration rate of the primary Si phase is slowed greatly. Even the melt is held for 6 h, the average size of the primary Si phase is still satisfied. The results analyzed by scanning electron microscope （SEM） indicate that La is richer at A1-Si interface than that in α-A1 or primary Si phase. The higher the La content in the A1-Si interface, the smaller the primary Si phase.

Effects of ultrasonic vibration on solidification structure and properties of Mg-8Li-3Al alloy

Ultrasonic vibration was introduced into the Mg-8Li-3A1 alloy melt during its solidification process. The microstructure, corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of the Mg-8Li-3A1 alloy under ultrasonic vibration were investigated. The experiment results show that the morphology of a phase is modified from coarse rosette-like structure to fine globular one with the application of ultrasonic vibration. The fine globular structure is obtained especially when the power is 170 W, and the refining effect also gets better with prolonging the ultrasonic treatment time. The corrosion resistance of the alloy with 170 W of ultrasonic vibration for 90 s is improved apparently compared with the alloy without ultrasonic vibration. The mechanical properties of alloys with ultrasonic vibration are also both improved apparently. The tensile strength and elongation of alloy improve by 9.5% and 45.7%, respectively, with 170 W of ultrasonic treatment for 90 s.

Anisotropy of localized corrosion in 7050-T7451 Al alloy thick plate

The corrosion anisotropy of 7050-T7451 A1 alloy thick plate in NaCI solution was investigated by immersion tests, slow strain rate testing （SSRT） technique, potentiodynamic and anode polarization measurements, optical microscropy （OM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） observations. The results show that the thick plate exhibits severe corrosion anisotropy due to the microstructure anisotropy. The observations of immersion surfaces together with the analysis of polarization curves reveal that the differences of the corrosion morphologies on various sections in this material are mainly related to the area fraction of the remnant second phase, and higher area fraction displays worst corrosion resistance. The stress corrosion cracking （SCC） susceptibility of different directions relative to the rolling direction is assessed by SSRT technique, ranked in the order： S direction 〉 L direction 〉 T direction. The result show that the smaller the grain aspect ratio, the better the corrosion resistance to SCC.

Hot deformation behavior of high Ti 6061 Al alloy

The hot deformation behavior of a high Ti 6061 aluminum alloy in the temperature range from 350 to 510 ℃ and strain rate range from 0.001 to 10 s^-1 was investigated using stress-strain curve analysis, processing map, transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction analysis. The results show that the peak stress decreases with increasing deformation temperatures and decreasing strain rate. The average deformation activation energy is 185 kJ/mol in the parameter range investigated. The flow stress model was constructed. The main softening mechanism is dynamic recovery. The processing map was obtained using dynamic material model, and the suggested processing window is 400-440℃ and 0.001-0.1 s^-1.

Interface characteristic of friction stir welding lap joints of Ti/Al dissimilar alloys

Lap joints of TC1 Ti alloy and LF6 A1 alloy dissimilar materials were fabricated by friction stir welding and corresponding interface characteristics were investigated. Using the selected welding parameters, excellent surface appearance forms, but the interface macrograph for each lap joint cross-section is different. With the increase of welding speed or the decrease of tool rotation rate, the amount of Ti alloy particles stirred into the stir zone by the force of tool pin decreases continuously. Moreover, the failure loads of the lap joints also decrease with increasing welding speed and the largest value is achieved at welding speed of 60 mm/min and tool rotation rate of 1500 r/min, where the interracial zone can be divided into 3 kinds of layers. The microhardness of the lap joint shows an uneven distribution and the maximum hardness of HV 502 is found in the middle of the stir zone.

Influence of technical parameters on strength and ductility of AlSi9Cu3 alloys in squeeze casting

An orthogonal test was conducted to investigate the influence of technical parameters of squeeze casting on the strength and ductility of AISigCu3 alloys. The experimental results showed that when the forming pressure was higher than 65 MPa, the strength （ab） of A1Si9Cu3 alloys decreased with the forming pressure and pouring temperature increasing, whereas ab increased with the increase of filling velocity and mould preheating temperature. The ductility （6） by alloy was improved by increasing the forming pressure and filling velocity, but decreased with pouring temperature increasing. When the mould preheating temperature increased, the ductility increased first, and then decreased. Under the optimized parameters of pouring temperature 730 ℃, forming pressure 75 MPa, filling velocity 0.50 m/s, and mould preheating temperature 220 ℃, the tensile strength, elongation, and hardness of A1Si9Cu3 alloys obtained in squeeze casting were improved by 16.7%, 9.1%, and 10.1%, respectively, as compared with those of sand castings.

Effect of gelcasting conditions on quality of porous Al-Cu alloy

The porous A1-Cu alloy was prepared by the gelcasting process. And the effects of gelcasting conditions, such as monomer, the volume ratio of cross-linker and monomer, dispersant and redox initiating system on the height, gelling time and the quality of green body were investigated. （It was found that the dispersant and monomer played significant roles in the height and quality of green bodies, respectively.） The optimal conditions were 10% monomer, 2% cross-linker, 0.2% initiator （volume fraction）, and 1.2 g dispersant, in which the green body exhibited the best quality. The mechanisms of process conditions in eliminating the cracks and forming the pores of in the five stages were proposed. Mercury porosimetry provided a description of pore diameter ranging from 10 to 10000 nm and open porosity of 38.78 %.

Grain refining effect of Mg by novel particle cluster-containing Al-Ti-C master alloy

A novel A1-Ti-C master alloy containing A14C3 and TiC particle clusters, which exhibits great refining potential for Mg, was prepared. With the addition of 2% A1-Ti-C master alloy, the grains transform to equiaxed crystal with a diameter of （110-a：17） ~tm. The results indicate that A14C3 and TiC particle cluster, rather than a single particle, plays an important role in the refining process. Compared with the simplex smooth nucleating substrate, concave regions on the particle cluster provide easier route for the transformation from liquid Mg atoms to stable nucleus. Nucleus with a small size can also reach the critical nucleation radius when they attach on the concave regions of the substrate. A14C3 and TiC particle clusters thus become more favorable nucleating substrate for a-Mg grains.

Microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of steel stud to Al alloy by CMT welding-brazing process

Cold metal transfer （CMT） welding of nickel-coated Q235 steel studs with 606l Al alloy was carried out using ER4043 as filler metal. The welding process was stable, and appearance of weld formed well without surface defect under the parameters of welding current 121 A, welding voltage 15.4 V and welding speed 6 r/min. The microstructure of fiUer metal was analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy. The filler metal and 6061 Al alloy were fused to form fusion welding interface, the fusion zone had a good bonding without any micro defect. The steel stud did not melt and brazing interface was formed between the filler metal and steel stud. Two different reaction layers existed in the brazing interface, the Fe2Al5 layer about 10 -12 p^m formed near the steel stud side, and the other layer was mainly composed of FeAl3. Nickel-rich zone was formed in the root toe area of the fillet weld, which was mainly composed of Al3Ni2. The tensile tests showed that the maximum shearing strength of the joints was 129 MPa. The joint was brittle fractured in the intermetallic compound layer where plenty of FeAl3 were distributed continuously.

Intelligent method to develop constitutive relationship of Ti-6Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V alloy

The isothermal compression tests were carried out in the Thermecmastor-Z thermo-simulator at temperatures of 800, 850, 900, 950, 1000 and 1050 ℃ and the strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 s-1. The influence of deformation temperature and strain rate on the flow stress of Ti-6Al-2Zr-IMo-IV alloy was studied. Based on the experimental data sets, the high temperature deformation behavior of Ti-6A1-2Zr-IMo-IV alloy was presented using the intelligent method of artificial neural network （ANN）. The results indicate that the predicted flow stress values by ANN model is quite consistent with the experimental results, which implies that the artificial neural network is an effective tool for studying the hot deformation behavior of the present alloy. In addition, the development of graphical user interface is implemented using Visual Basic programming language.

Flow stress prediction for hot deformation processing of 2024Al-T3 alloy

Isothermal compression tests were conducted to predict the hot deformational flow stress behaviour of 2024AI-T3 alloy with respect to a wide range of strain rates （0.001-100 s l）, strains （0.1-0.5） and temperatures （573-773 K）. The prediction capabilities of various constitutive models for 2024A1 alloys and a recently developed constitutive model were evaluated using statistical parameters such as the average absolute relative error （AARE） and the correlation coefficient （R）. Models recorded the lowest AARE （4.6%） and the highest correlation coefficient （R=0.99） were developed compared with the other models. Hence, this model can track the deformational behaviour of 2027Al-T3 alloy more accurately compared with other models throughout the entire processing domain investigated.

INFLUENCE OF AGING ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF AI ALLOY 8090

The variations of microstructure and tensile behavior of an Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloy during aging are studied in this paper. It has been found that the fine δ-phase precipitated in the underaging condition and that the δ-, S-and T1-phases precipitate in the peak aging and the overaging conditions. The alloy exhibits transgranular fracture on the underaging condition, and mixture of transgranular and intergranular ruptures in the peak aging and overaging conditions.

Automatic recognition and quantitative analysis of Ω phases in Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy

The main methods of the second phase quantitative analysis in current material science researches are manual recognition and extracting by using software such as Image Tool and Nano Measurer. The weaknesses such as high labor intensity and low accuracy statistic results exist in these methods. In order to overcome the shortcomings of the current methods, the Ω phase in A1-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy is taken as the research object and an algorithm based on the digital image processing and pattern recognition is proposed and implemented to do the A1 alloy TEM （transmission electron microscope） digital images process and recognize and extract the information of the second phase in the result image automatically. The top-hat transformation of the mathematical morphology, as well as several imaging processing technologies has been used in the proposed algorithm. Thereinto, top-hat transformation is used for elimination of asymmetric illumination and doing Multi-layer filtering to segment Ω phase in the TEM image. The testing results are satisfied, which indicate that the Ω phase with unclear boundary or small size can be recognized by using this method. The omission of these two kinds of Ω phase can be avoided or significantly reduced. More Ω phases would be recognized （growing rate minimum to 2% and maximum to 400% in samples）, accuracy of recognition and statistics results would be greatly improved by using this method. And the manual error can be eliminated. The procedure recognizing and making quantitative analysis of information in this method is automatically completed by the software. It can process one image, including recognition and quantitative analysis in 30 min, but the manual method such as using Image Tool or Nano Measurer need 2 h or more. The labor intensity is effectively reduced and the working efficiency is greatly improved.

Microstructure and properties of Al-0.70Fe-0.24Cu alloy conductor prepared by horizontal continuous casting and subsequent continuous extrusion forming

A novel process for manufacturing A1-0.70Fe-0.24Cu alloy conductor was proposed, which includes horizontal continuous casting and subsequent continuous extrusion forming （Conform）. The mechanical properties, electrical conductivity and the compressed creep behaviour of the alloy were studied. The results indicate that the Conform process induces obvious grain refinement, strain-induced precipitation of AI7CuzFe phase and the transformation of crystal orientation distribution. The processed alloy has good comprehensive mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. Moreover, a better creep resistance under the conditions of 90 ~C and 76 MPa is shown compared with pure A1 and annealed copper, and the relationship between primary creep strain and time may comply with the logarithmic law. The enhanced properties are attributed to the grain refinement as well as the fine and homogeneously distributed thermally stable A1Fe and A17Cu2Fe precipitation phases.

Process of aluminum dross recycling and life cycle assessment for Al-Si alloys and brown fused alumina

In 2008,around 596 000 t of aluminum dross was generated from secondary aluminum industry in China;however,it was not sufficiently recycled yet.Approximately 95% of the Al dross was land filled without innocent treatment.The purpose of this work is to investigate Al dross recycling by environmentally efficient and friendly methods.Two methods of Al dross recycling which could utilize Al dross efficiently were presented.High-quality aluminum-silicon alloys and brown fused alumina(BFA) were produced successfully by recycling Al dross.Then,life cycle assessment(LCA) was performed to evaluate environmental impact of two methods of Al dross recycling process.The results show that the two methods are reasonable and the average recovery rate of Al dross is up to 98%.As the LCA results indicate,they have some advantages such as less natural resource consumption and pollutant emissions,which efficiently relieves the burden on the environment in electrolytic aluminum and secondary aluminum industry.

STUDY ON THE HOT DEFORMATION BEHAVIORS OF Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Cr ALUMINUM ALLOY

The hot deformation behaviors and microstructures of A1-Zn-Mg-Cu-Cr aluminum alloy have been studied using thermal simulation test, optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. As a result, the true stress versus true strain curves and the microstructures under various deformation conditions are obtained. The microstructures gradually incline to dynamic-recrystallization with the deformation temperature rising and the recrystallization grains refine with the decrease of deformation temperature or with raising the strain rates. The quantitative relationship between the Zener-Hollomon parameter （Z） and average recrystallization grain size in the subsequent heat treatment is set up.

Microstructure evolution and Al_3(Sc_(1-x)Zr_x) precipitates' kinetics in Al-Zn-Mg alloy during homogenization

The microstructure evolutions of two A1-Zn-Mg alloys, one of which was alloyed with Sc and Zr, and the kinetics of A13（SCl-xZrx） precipitates in the A1-Zn-Mg alloy during homogenization were investigated. Both alloys under as-cast condition with supersaturated, non-equilibrium T（Mg32（A1, Zn）49） phase and impurities phase were displayed. When the homogenization temperatures are below 350 ~C, Zn and Mg atoms precipitate from matrix; however, when the temperatures are above 400 ~C, T phase dissolves into matrix, enhancing solid-solution strengthening. Kinetics of A13（Scl.xZrx） precipitates was studied based on Jmat Pro software calculation and the difference values between the hardness of the two alloys in each homogenization condition. The calculations predict that the Sc and Zr solubilities in ct-A1 decline with the presence of Mg and Zn. Investigation of the difference values reveals that when the temperature is between 300 ~C and 350 ~C, the nucleation rate of A13（Sc1-xZrx） precipitates is the highest and the strengthening effect from A13（SCl_xZrx） precipitates is the best. After homogenization at 470℃ for 12 h, non-equilibrium T phase disappears, while impurity phase remains. The mean diameter of A13（Scl_xZrx） precipitates is around 18 urn. Ideas about better fulfilling the potentials of Sc and Zr were proposed at last.

Characterization of mechanical properties of aluminum cast alloy at elevated temperature

The tensile response, the low cycle fatigue （LCF） resistance, and the creep behavior of an aluminum （A1） cast alloy are studied at ambient and elevated temperatures. A non-contact real-time optical extensometer based on the digital image correlation （DIC） is developed to achieve strain measurements without damage to the specimen. The optical extensometer is validated and used to monitor dynamic strains during the mechanical experiments. Results show that Young＇s modulus of the cast alloy decreases with the increasing temperature, and the percentage elongation to fracture at 100 ℃ is the lowest over the temperature range evaluated from 25 ℃ to 300 ℃. In the LCF test, the fatigue strength coefficient decreases, whereas the fatigue strength exponent increases with the rising temperature. The fatigue ductility at 100 ℃. As expected, the resistance to and changes from 200 ℃ to 300 ℃. coefficient and exponent reach maximum values creep decreases with the increasing temperature